Huthwaite-based Taylor’s Trucksport Racing Team is to take on a full season’s racing in the Goodyear FIA European Truck Racing Championship, reports Paul Horton.

The team, led by racer Mark Taylor, will challenge all nine rounds of the prestigious FIA Championship, which stretches across most of Europe.

He will race in a new truck, built since the end of last season where they finished the British Truck Racing Championship in fifth place. It is a highly-modified MAN TGX, bought from European champion Sascha Lenz and rebuilt.

Weighing in at around 5.5 tonnes, with 1,100bhp and a top speed of 160 km/h, the truck is a beast. The six-cylinder 12,000cc race-tuned engine delivers power through a 16-speed manual gearbox with a locked rear differential, special race-tuned tyres, and water-cooled brakes.

Mark is no stranger to truck racing, having raced for the last five years in the British Championship — his frst time as a racer.

The European competition will be a steep learning curve, on unfamiliar race circuits, against more experienced competitors, and under new rules and regulations.

Mark said: I’m thoroughly looking forward to a new challenge.

“It is the right time to move up a league. There will be new circuits to race on and we are looking forward to our fans following us in this new race series.

“New challenges in anything is good, but in motorsport it’s exceptional with so much to learn. I can’t wait to get out there.”

The Taylor’s team has been working tirelessly since the end of last year on the new venture, which has involved a lot of planning ahead of the busy five-month race season across Europe.

They plan a return to UK racing in mid-August at the popular Convoy in The Park at Donington Park, contesting the International Truck Prix.

The team will take part in a three-day test in mid-April at Autodrom Most Circuit in the Czech Republic, before the first round of the European Championships at Marco Simoncelli World Circuit, Misano, Italy, on 20th and 21st May.